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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A police officer tickets cyclists traveling against traffic along the one-way New Hampshire Avenue in Washington, DC, in the summer of 2008.

By Mia Birk

Riding home not long ago, I spotted a police officer videotaping bicyclists at a large and lovely traffic circle on one of Portland’s most popular bikeways in Ladd’s Addition, one of its oldest residential neighborhoods. More than 4,000 cyclists a day circumnavigate the roundabout, which features a park in the middle and is the salient feature of this historic neighborhood.

A couple times a year, cranky neighbors complain about cyclists rolling the stop signs. The police usually respond by handing out a couple dozen $242 tickets and then go back to ignoring it. Very productive. Once again, someone had complained, and the officer was there to document the situation.

Sure cyclists don’t come to a complete stop at this or most stop-controlled intersections. Most motorists don’t come to a complete stop either.